World's Largest Producer of Ammonia
CF Industries is a leading global manufacturer of hydrogen and nitrogen products for clean energy, fertilizer, emissions abatement, and other industrial applications. CF Industries’ core product is anhydrous ammonia, whose chemical symbol is NH3 and is composed of 82% nitrogen and 18% hydrogen. The Company is the world’s largest producer of ammonia on a gross ammonia basis, with an average annual capacity of 10.5 million tons.
Ammonia Production
Ammonia production relies on the Haber-Bosch process to produce ammonia by synthesizing hydrogen from a fossil fuel feedstock with nitrogen from the air, with CO2 as an inherent byproduct of the process. Natural gas is the principal raw material and primary fuel source used in the ammonia production process at our manufacturing facilities and accounts for approximately 70 percent of the cost to manufacture ammonia.
Clean Energy
Ammonia has increasingly been identified as a future source of clean energy due to its hydrogen content. Hydrogen has emerged as a leading clean energy source to achieve global greenhouse gas emission reductions and energy stability. Ammonia is expected to contribute to hydrogen’s use as a clean energy source either as a fuel itself because it does not emit carbon when burned, or as a transport and storage medium for its hydrogen content.
CF Industries has committed to developing the use of ammonia as a clean energy source by decarbonizing its ammonia production network.
Fertilizer
Today, ammonia is primarily used for its nitrogen content as a fertilizer itself or as the basis of upgraded nitrogen fertilizers such as granular urea, urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), and ammonium nitrate (AN). Fertilizer is responsible for 50% of global food production, protecting the world’s food supplies and helping to feed a growing global population. Nitrogen-based fertilizers are particularly important in this endeavor, as plants absorb and utilize nitrogen more than any other element during the development process.
Emissions Control and Other industrial Applications
Ammonia and its upgraded products, including diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), are also used in industrial processes for emissions reduction as well as in the manufacture of plastics, textiles, dyes, and other chemicals.
CF Industries is the largest producer of DEF in North America. DEF is used in diesel trucks with selective catalytic reduction technology to eliminate nearly all NOx emissions.